The Turkish Baths of Baton Rouge

On the first day the bf and I came to Baton Rouge back in July to look at rentals, a most intriguing old building caught my eye. It was an abandoned Turkish Baths/ old-time health spa. It was to become my ABR white whale. I couldn't find it for months after moving here. Not having a vehicle certainly didn't help matters. But recently, I finally found it again, and I believe the area is called Beauregardtown.

ABR Roadshow: Denham Springs Bowl N Putt

So, I had heard that Denham Springs, a town a few minutes down the highway from Baton Rouge, had a cute old-time downtown area. When my road trip partner Leah was still down here, we decided to check it out. First and most importantly, we found this:

Quiz Time!

What creature was this?

It was spotted in the empty store next to Mitiello's , which is filled with strewn-about garbage, just as I was thinking, I wonder why I don't see any critters in there.

Lincoln Theatre complex

This compound is an abandoned and semi-abandoned downtown treasure. (I think it's in the downtown? Or near it? It's hard to tell where downtown starts or ends when nobody's around.)

Today's subject: The onetime sight of the Lincoln Theatre, Pharmacy, Barber Shop, and Wash-In (I think that's what the last phrase says? Is a "wash-in" a Laundromat?)

Abandoned Baton Rouge Roadshow

I just got back from a road trip from Philadelphia down through the South, and spotted a lot of abandonment along the way. The real pay dirt was in Jackson, Mississippi, a capital city with a downtown as eerily abandoned as Baton Rouge's. Anyone ever see the early '70s movie The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston? I recommend it during this fine Halloween season, and driving through empty Jackson was like Heston driving through empty L.A. in that movie.

But first, how about a nice burned-out motel? [Click to enlarge]